Product Shuffle: mixing alphabet fonts in your title

Today we're going to talk about mixing alphabet fonts for your title. If you're like me, you probably have tons of alphabet sticker sheets. Mixing fonts on your page is a great way to use up your stash! You can combine different colors, different fonts, big letters, small letters... the possibilities are endless. Combining different alphabet stickers can add a lot of character to your page and help put emphasis on certain words.

Here's a new page I created for you:

I used three different alphabet sticker sets on this page: EK Success (small white), American Crafts (grey), and Amy Tangerine (Thickers). Maybe you don't feel comfortable mixing so many sizes and colors just quite yet. That's ok! Here's one I did a little while back using two colors and two different fonts.

Making a quick trip through the LCOM Gallery, I found some other examples of how members have mixed alphabets. Here's one by Gisele. She used three different fonts and three different colors.

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One from Probyte. I like the script font combined with the more bold font. Both colors in her title match her layout perfectly.

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And one more from Isabelle. She incorporated a sticker into her title + two other fonts in two colors.

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Browse through the gallery and find your own inspiration! Use these examples as a starting point. We hope we've given you a creative push to dig into your stash and use up some of those alpha stickers!

Something old, Something new...

If you're anything like me, when you get new scrappy goodies, you dive right in, often forgetting the many treasures you already own. I'm going to share with you just a few approaches on how to incorporate some older product onto your pages without making them look dated.  Don't worry, I know you've got new stuff you're dying to use,  we're just going to sneak a bit of aging stuff in, in order to clear a bit of room for the next trend.

Patterned paper- If you're used to using lots of solid or neutral backgrounds for your pages, dig through your older papers, and pick out some that can be used as solids, and keep them nearby when working on new pages. Often, you can slip them in with a new collection. On this page, I used the reverse of an older My Mind's Eye paper ( green dot) paired with a new sheet from The Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go Collection. You can always slide in scraps of those older papers too, as decorative border strips, as I did with a piece from Sassafras Lass.

Letters- Maybe it's because I love letter stickers so much, but I think even the craziest fonts or colours will work somewhere somehow. Don't forget about the basics you already own, and don't be afraid to use several fonts to make up a title if need be. I used an older sheet of Candy Shoppe letters from Doodlebug Design Inc, to make this simple title.

Embellishments- I added a few stickers from Crate Paper Story Teller collection and some flags from the October Afternoon Sassparilla Collection. These are still newer products, but were being neglected since I had newer things to play with. The really old bits include the metal framed tag and chipboard apple from American Crafts. The key to making everything work, is to keep a balance between the older items, and some newer trendier items or techniques. In this case the wooden shapes I coloured with Distress Stain, and the stenciled background help to keep the page feeling current. 

Trends are cyclical, and it seems everything old is new again. So don't discount your older embellishments and papers, you may be surprised at how well you can incorporate them with the newer treasures you've just brought home. 

Have fun mixing it up!

Erin

Ready, Set, Go!

Last weekend, I had the privilege of traveling to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with some girlfriends to attend my first ever Crop & Create event.  It was fabulous to meet some new people, and especially cool to meet some industry leading celebs, like Kelly Purkey, Beth Kingston, Kelley Goree, and Catherine Tachdjian, just to name a few.

Amy Tangerine Ready, Set, Go is in the shop, and I thought it would be perfect to use on a challenge that I entered at the event.  I created a layout boasting my need for a good morning coffee.

I chose to combine On The Clock and Dinner Date to create a fun, bright, and bold layout.

Journaling reads: "I couldn't agree more.  My Starbucks ceramic mug is my best friend every morning of the week."

I used only 2 sheets of patterned paper, a mish-mash of alphas, and a few things from my stash. This line is so colourful, that I thought it would be easy to fulfill the challenge of combining several colours and styles of alphas to create an eye catching title.  I'm sure you have a fair share of half used alphabet sheets too - this is the perfect way to use them up.

You can grab these papers, and a bunch more fab designs by Amy Tangerine in the shop here.

Happy Friday Friends!

The Real Story

Happy Friday friends, 

I have a quick layout to share with you today using the new Amy Tangerine Ready, Set, Go papers.  Have you noticed this collection in the shop yet?  They are fun, and great for Fall photos and more.  I thought they went great with this photo I had of the cowboy boots I picked up while in Vegas a few weeks ago. 

You know I love white space and this layout has plenty of it.  I wanted to keep the focus on the photo.  As you can tell I broke open my Silhouette Cameo for the title work and embellishments on this one.  The brads are random ones from my stash.  The journaling reads: "I've changed my mind about cowboy boots.  They're just okay on guys, but they ROCK on girls."  Just my opinion.

I hope you get a chance to pop by the store and check out the new stock that's being added.  Isabelle is doing a great job running the ship over there.  As always we'd love for you to pop by the forum and get to know those of us who call that place home.  You can register for the fun here.

You can see all the fabulous new Amy Tangerine collection right here in the shop.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Faves - Substitution Game!

This week for my Friday Faves - I wanted to share a page that I recently made and show some goodies from the Let's Capture Our Memories store that you could pick up to make a page similar - substituting in other similar items!

Let's begin with the page I did make. I again used some Basic Grey Clippings, Paper Cottage:

Okay, so onto the substitutions. Let's start with the background paper! If you want a smaller chevron for a background, there are a few in the store that are a perfect substitute. Like these:

Echo Park:

My Mind's Eye:

Bella Blvd:

Now, there are lots of options for this next substitution ! Here are a few to get you started.

When I created this page, I used a lot of stickers and labels from the Basic Grey line. 

Here are a few others labels like these that are way cool.

Elle's Studio

Evalicious

Jillibean Soup

 Now Alphas - who doesn't love a good alpha right?

I used some Thickers here...

but here are a few other options:

American Crafts

Basic Grey

Jillibean Soup

Simple Stories

Those are some of my faves in the store now!!

AND I know there are lots of other new faves coming our way too!

For now, check out what's new HERE or what's ON SALE

Amy Tangerine Day Book

The Amy Tangerine Day books have been hot sellers since the moment they arrived on the scene.  Although I really liked the look of them I was hesitant as to whether or not I would enjoy working with them, as the pages are a much lighter weight than I was accustomed to.  Needless to say as soon as I began filling the first page all hesitations were washed away.  The album was incredibly easy to work with.

I decided to use it to do a 'Book Of Me'.  Here's the finished album.  

I apologize in advance for my hand being visible in many of the photos.  Photographing this little guy proved a lot more tricky than putting it together :)

Click on the images to enlarge

the envelope houses the acceptance email from Scrapbook Trends

The game day ticket is peeking out behind the page

I've mentioned before how important I think it is to scrap about ourselves in addition to our family and friends.  This little book will serve as a reminder in years to come of all the rich blessing my life held at this point.  It may seem to go against the grain to do a BOM album in the middle of the year, but that's me, that's how I roll, and I find great freedom in scrapping whatever my heart desires, and not restraining myself to chronological order, or standard timelines.

If you struggle with mini albums and don't know where to start here are some ideas that may help you to get started on your own: 

1. Select a theme for your album.  Choose something that you have at least a handful of photos for.

2. Print your photos.  I suggest you stick with photos that are 3x5 and smaller.  I find it difficult to work with 4x6 photos in a mini album.  As a rule, the more embellishments you wish to use the smaller your photos should be.

3. Start with the products you love, elements that will co-ordinate with the album you've selected.  Don't limit yourself to only what you think you 'should' use, and grab more than you think you need.  Gather it all, the assortment of goodies will inspire you.

Here's a peek at some of the product I started with.

As you can see not all of it got used, but it sure got my creative juices flowing, just seeing it all in one place like that.

4. Start cutting and pasting.

5. Enjoy the process.

At least these are the things that work for me. 

I used a lot of miscellaneous bits and pieces from my own stash for this album.  All the Amy Tangerine products, however are available in the store.  So are the Maya Road canvas butterflies.  Here are the links for easy shopping.  While you're there, I'm sure you'll see some other fabulous goodies, perfect for your next mini.

Amy Tangerine Day Book

Die Cut Cardstock Shapes

Doodle Dimension Stickers

Fabric Stickers

Canvas Butterflies

If you are inspired to create a mini, please let me know.  I'd love to come and have a peek.